ABC’s broadcast of Sunday night’s Oscars opened with host Seth MacFarlane firing off a flurry of jokes ranging from funny to downright dry/borderline corny.

And that’s coming from me.

His riffs began soldily enough, starting with his mission statement “to make Tommy Lee Jones laugh” — which he thus did. After making a nod to acclaimed Argo helmer Ben Affleck’s lack of a best directing nom, MacFarlane slipped in a Good Will Hunting-esque, “It’s not your fault.” The host mocked how little an Oscar win can actually pay dividends, deadpanning how 2012’s Best Actor Jean Dujardin is “everywhere” now.

But bits about Method-y Lincoln star Daniel Day Lewis being spooked by a cell phone, Mel Gibson (what year is it?) and the ever-prodigious Coppola clan veritably creaked on their way out of his mouth.

His spiel then got interrupted by an “out of this world” visitor — Star Trek‘s James T. Kirk (played by William Shatner). The space jockey said he was visiting from the future to warn MacFarlane that what he had on tap for the show would earn him the headline “Worst Oscars Host Ever” in tomorrow’s newspaper.

Kirk shared video of these imminent missteps, from a jaunty “We Saw Your Boobs” tune recounting all of the actresses who have gone bare on the big screen (and accompanied by the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, which Kirk said Seth would join in July 2015!), to a sock-puppet version of Flight, to an entirely inappropriate accosting of erstwhile Flying Nun Sally Field.

But was it enough to fend off his fated bit of bad press? At minimum, Kirk’s “intervention” — though semi-inspired — ran several minutes too long and should have been much more tightly directed. MacFarlane’s monologue proper, meanwhile, could have been 10 percent more improper and edgy, instead of covering well-tred (and thus “safe”) ground. (Kirk at one point commented that “Amy and Tina should host everything,” and truly, their infamous Kathryn Bigelow/James Cameron zinger was more pointed than anything on display here.)

The only thing I enjoyed more than his monologue is everyone’s self righteous indignation. regarding his monologue. Take this energy you are wasting on a bit that was CLEARLY supposed to come across misogynistic and transfer it to something that matters.

Yeah, misogyny actually does matter. As does homophobia. I’m not sure what else I’m supposed to find more important during a show business awards show. But since Josh, in his infinite wisdom, has deigned to tell where to direct my energy, maybe I’ll spend the next 2 hours writing my own song about boobs. Bite me, jackass.

The point of the joke is that it’s offensive because it’s misogynistic. That was the joke. It wasn’t serious. Lets not pretend he’s corrupting the future of America by saying “we saw your boobs.” Family Guy secured that long ago.

I like boobs and thought it was great. You people that sit around looking for reasons to be “offended” by every damn joke need to get a life. Some of you try to make a living out of being offended and it’s wearing thin on everyone else that have heard enough about your thought and speech policing. Control freaks.

It was unnecessary. And if you saw some of the reactions from the actors in the audience, they seemed to think so, too. The ‘jokes’ about orgies from the animated “Ted” character were totally uncalled for, too. Not what you expect or want from an animated stuffed animal.

I find it sad that you chose to point this out instead of addressing how sexist that routine was. It doesn’t matter that the actresses were “in on it” that actually makes it worse. In order for a joke to be progressive and not simply offensive it has to hit society where it hurts. Making fun of women and gays who are already put down enough in society does nothing but help keep the regular power relations in society.
Plainly speaking – even when the person making the joke knows it’s sexist, that doesn’t make it any less sexist…

That joke wasn’t making fun of women. It was simply a boob joke, not putting you down as a gender and this horribly overblown reaction only hurts future sympathy when real sexism occurs. Also please don’t put women in the same category as gays and other races, those struggles don’t even compare to the “struggle of the woman.” You have just as many rights as men and people don’t think of you as less of a human being. People underestimate you sometimes? People think you’re weaker than you are? You have to work a bit harder for a promotion? Life must be tough for you.

Yes. If you were paying attention during the “We Saw Your Boobs” (not “We Show You Boobs”, Matt), the “reactions” of Jennifer Lawrence and Charlize Theron were pre-taped, as Lawrence and Theron were in completely different dresses, and Lawrence was sitting in a completely different seat in the theater. So I don’t think anyone was really “offended”.

It’s a good thing you didn’t see the movie or know anything about Ted the stuffed animal…at least that is my assumption because Ted is about as *wrong* as you could possibly get and was completely true to his on-screen character.

That was part of the joke. Their perturbed reactions were staged to make the bit funnier. I don’t find all offensive humor to be funny, but I thought that Seth McFarlane did an excellent job with his monologue.

Yes, probably. How does it point to a hatred of women? It was fun, and catchy, and I can’t get it out of my head. And I mean, come on, they DID show their boobs. And before you blah, blah, blah let me make clear that I am a girl and have my own boobs. Which I saw this morning. Not in a movie. In the shower. And while getting dressed. And, Oh, just peeked at ‘em now.

I was fine with it. I found it hilarious, particularly Jennifer Lawrence’s thumbs up. And believe me, I am someone who would spit nails if I thought someone was being gross and misogynistic. But I think in this case, people are being too oversensitive. Seth was wonderful. He did a way better job than I expected him to. I will admit though, I could have done without the Scarlett Johanssen joke. I feel so terrible for her that she was hacked and her pictures distributed across the Internet like that. It’s not right that happened to her, and it was an uncool thing to make light of her embarrassment in that way.

I thought it was going well until Shatner ground it to a halt (and I LOVE Shatner and Star Trek). It was just wrong. The rest was great. Clearly, Seth thought it would be better than it was, but it was a mistake.

Totally agree. This is supposed to be a a show about hollywood glamour, the arts, and larger-than-life stories. We’re part of their “base” and they’re offending us. I’m looking for more of the Old Hollywood style presentation that was all about the actors and the art.

And yet Kaley Cuoco was on twitter 1 few minutes later saying “Totally downloading #wesawyourboobs on iTunes.” Humor is in the eye of the beholder. I’m sure there were plenty of people who wanted to punch Don Rickles in the face over the last 60 years too. Eye of the beholder. If we all only found the same things funny there’d only be 1 comedy on television to watch. :)

It was great, the corny jokes were so bad, but then he started making fun of people and the fun started. Anytime Captain Kirk is around I’m happy. But they should have made a joke about Spock, and maybe a “Watch out for the ribbon” to Kirk.

so:
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If the part is a part of the male body it = consensual erotica = awesome.
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If the part is a part of the female body = openly mocked/objectified = horrible!
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BTW, how many guys raised a storm over Magic Mike? any? anyone? Bueller? Bueller? Heck, I’ve heard some praise it as a well made movie.
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Now make the EXACT same movie in every last single respect only every male was swapped with a female and vice-versa and, honestly, what would you be saying about it? Would you praise it as a well made movie even still?

I was waiting for the coda, “We Love Farts”! With Seth at the helm I was waiting for something more, but he was holding back and he had Ted for that this year. I think he wants to be asked back next year, then he will pull out all the stops!

The people complaining about “We Saw Your Boobs” are also driving around town with bumper stickers saying “Feel Your Boobies” and “Save the TaTas”. A little hypocritical because “boobies” are “boobies”, no matter the context.

I think they forced him to tone it down. I lol’d when he asked if Daniel Day Lewis was still in character as Lincoln and was going to try to free Don Cheadle. That’s what this guy gets paid for, to make the off color jokes that others won’t. I would love to see and Ricky Gervais. I would love it, all the “offended” would be raging.

25 minutes for an opening that was more embarrassing to the actresses and the cringing of an audience that the host is suppose to be entertaining. Obviously, I’m not the target audience for ‘family guy’ or ‘ted’ level of humor. Hopefully the producers who chose SM got the audience they were aiming for. Basically, I didn’t feel the host’s tone throughout was in honor of hollywood, but to degrade and humiliate. Granted, Shatner said as much in his opening statement referring to SM as ‘worst host ever’. I get it. Yet we had 4 hours of ‘the worst’.

I’m not exactly his target audience either, but I “get” it. Shatner’s comment was completely scripted, and I believe that McFarlane actually told a couple of stinkers on purpose to lead into this bit. I can’t believe, in this day and age, there are still people who don’t understand how comedy works.

I pretty much despise the man, so my standards going in were rock bottom. But he did okay. Not the best, but not as awful as I expected. And the boob song was just offensive. Misogyny + homophobia are why I hate McFarlane in the first place.

I suppose… but I don’t see how simply making misogynist and homophobic statements under the guise of “humour” makes them funny.
That’s probably why I don’t consider Seth the comic “genius” that others do.

Seth MacFarlane was blah. He told a few good jokes, but more bad ones. He’s a strange mix of an old-school, sophisticated, rat-pack style entertainer, and a misogynistic, homophobic juvenile who thinks that shocking people is funny. When he leaned towards the former, he was good. When he leaned towards the latter, he bombed.

Im not a fan of the guy or his brand of humor FOR the Oscars but I understand why he is popular. But you took someone who has made a living for crass humor in the hopes that people who are his fans would watch the show and he gave them really nothing of what they would have tuned in for. he should have scorched the place knowing that he would probably not be asked back to do it again. Thought the boobs thing was sort of funny but not really. Very weak overall

I didn’t find the boobs number particularly funny but was not offended by it. Just frat boy humor which is McFarland’s thing. But am I the only one who found the Lincoln/John Wilkes Booth joke (if you can call it that) way out of bounds? Since when is the assasination of the United States President funny. Boo Hiss to whoever wrote that joke and to McFarland for delivering it.

Essentially, it’s Sam Kinison saying, “I have a dream”, then making a gunshot sound, and then saying, “I have a head wound!” I saw that about 30 years ago on Letterman. My point is there has always been offensive humor. A Lincoln joke in 2013 is not that unusual. (And then there’s the reporter who asked the First Lady, “Aside from that, Mrs. Lincoln, what did you think of the play?”)

i think seth did a great job. i think his sense of humor is such that if he DID go edgy, it would be too much, a la family guy, which not everybody can appreciate, so i think it was probably just easier for him to keep it low key. he also has such a silky smooth voice and a nice face to look at… i was entertained.

Seth is a good guy, and I thought he did a pretty good job throughout the telecast – that hosting job is the toughest job in Hollywood. However, regarding the opening sequence of the show – just two words crossed my mind as I watched the whole boobs, Kirk, dancing, etc. extravaganza: Uma Oprah.

Good g-d all you overly sensitive people. It’s not like he came out on stage dressed in a Nazi uniform and proceeded to put Jews in a gas oven! That’s his style of humor – take it or leave it. Based on the increased audience from last year, I guess a few more million decided to take it.